Green orb in iPhone camera

The camera is in a different position with respect to the light source in each of those stills. So the light source will be refracted to a different place on the sensor in each still.

Hi Standclearofclosingdoorsplease,

Thanks for getting back to us with those additional details. We understand the concern with this behavior with your iPhone's camera showing this green orb when you record videos. Let's continue working on this together.

What is the exact iOS version installed on your iPhone? Settings > General > About.

Does the issue show in the preview while you're recording the video? is it happening when you shot photos as well? When did you first notice this issue? Do you recall anything changing on your iPhone right before this started occurring?

If your device is up-to-date on software, we'd recommend to restore the device to factory settings (without the backup you will lose data. So verify that you have a newly set up backup) 

How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Set it up as new and test before restoring to see if the issue continues there, here's how to restore: 

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings

If the issue persists afterwards, please contact Apple to investigate this issue further:

Get Support

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. Have a nice day.

I've experienced the same this past month! My friend recently loss a loved one, and she told me he came into her cousin's dream, and said if they see a white light in photos, that it's him. Then she showed me videos where she was recording his kids playing with her daughter, and a white dot like the green orbs in your pics was present, and it was following his kids around. The following day, I was on Facetime and started seeing a green and a blue orb that would appear and then disappear. It happened again a few days ago. And again last night. Last night I recorded a video, turned the light off and as soon as I turned the light off in the video, a green orb came into the camera, moved around and disappeared. I started looking it up, which brought me here. In the video, I was just laying down to meditate and said I had a meeting with my higher self. Not sure if that's what brought on the spiritual connection. Orbs are usually a sign of spiritual energy.

I was just filming my daughter playing soccer for her travel team. When I got home I saw in my videos that there was a green dot bouncing around following my daughter for almost an hour. At One point it literally moves up close with my phone lens to the point that it has to refocus as it made the whole picture blurry. I looked it up and it says green orbs are associated with the heart, nature, and is a presence of a human spirit. The crazy part is I lost my mother 1 week exactly from the video. Then my sister is on a walk with her son and had the same experience. In the video you can literally see it zig zagging around but it follows my daughter all over the field for 1 hour. Was really crazy experience. In the pics below is from my video when it flys close to the camera and gets blurry from lens trying to adjust and then flies back out and focuses again It's def not the phone. It is definitely something and I will show a pic of what they say the different colors mean for Orbs

I think you're misinterpreting what I mean by the "physics" of optics. I'm not suggesting you or anyone here needs to be a scientist. I do mean however, people need to understand that ALL CAMERA's have limitations in their ability to avoid capturing lens flare. I have no clue what you're experiencing with your iPhone. The camera system in iPhone 8 is not as capable as the camera in iPhone 12. It does NOT have night mode capabilities at all. It doesn't have the same camera system or resolution as the newer phones.

If you think your iPhone 8 is all of the sudden taking worse photos, schedule an appointment at your Apple Store Genius Bar for evaluation.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250666894?page=2

No one seemed to have much to say to all of these people with blue light issues? Is it due to the infrared light in night mode?

This has been happening in random videos and photos of mine the past couple months as well. At first thought it was a weird reflection, but I just took a video of my bed in the dark last night and there’s a green orb floating around just above where I sleep, moving, while the camera is totally still. Can’t figure out anything technological that could explain it..

Yes, your zooming in so it changes the distance between the lenses and it's causing it to move around. You can dispute this all you want, it still boils down to being lens flare. If you would read the whole article I posted the link to, you would understand better.

But since you don't believe in the scientific explanation, Here's an answer better suited to you.

Hi Standclearofclosingdoorsplease,

Thanks for following up with us. It looks like you're having concerns with spyware as well, and we'd like to make sure to get you into the right hands.

Please contact Apple Support via this link:

Get Support

Best regards.

I too have had some pictures with the green orbs. I’ve been so confused because it’s so random. I’ve tried to cancel things out by snapping a few in a row holding the phone still, I’ve tried night and day pictures, behind glass and without obstructions and it seems to move on it’s own.

Thank you for the technical explanation. Can you please explain how a spot of blue or green light moves into an image, is clear then fuzzy then clear again, then moves up and down and then moves out of the image -all in a 3 second live iPhone photo when the phone is being held still? Too cold to be a bug. I want to believe it’s something that can be explained - I can’t understand how flare explains the odd and erratic movement. Thank you.

I don’t think you understand. In the three second live shot the blue dot is in focus, out of focus, in focus again moves in four directions and in and out of the frame. In three seconds. While nothing else in the photo moved. There is NO WAY that was the phone moving. Software updated, phone checked at Apple, no smears, smuges or case covering the lens.

Look, I’m not looking for some supernatural explanation. I’d like an explanation that actually makes sense - these aren’t just blobs of reflected dust. Not an insect. What kind of light is being reflected that is making a blue/green moving dot or light? How would lens flare make such erratic movements in a 3 second Live photo? I know it’s a tiny photo, but you can see how much it moves in the live frames below.

The OP had the same issue - no one could really answer his question. Lens flare may make sense for a still photo, but I’m confused how it explains the movement. It is NOT the phone moving. I’m not trying to tell you it’s ghosts, and please don’t try to tell me it’s a problem with the phone/software/hardware/user. Thanks.

Dark has never been completely dark. So your starting point has no place in the discussion. Also, how can lens flares explain that it seemingly randomly started happening. Why not before? Why is it happening all of a sudden now? New dust flakes, maybe. But then why does it only happen sometimes and not every video/picture? And even in ones that have the sun in it. Wouldn’t the phenomenon happen regularly? As opposed to randomly? Since photographers can control the phenomenon, how come this is out of control and difficult to reproduce (in my experience)? Repeating your main argument over and again is not helpful. So if that’s all you have to say, thank you in advance for your contribution. Feel free to move on, since you’ve already debunked it in your mind. Let the rest of us who aren’t so convinced keep on our path.

I have the same thing...photos (2) and a video taken at night (won’t let me post video)

And what did Apple say when you took your phone into your Apple Store Genius Bar for evaluation?